Ask Pastor John

Children are a blessing from the God who commands us to be fruitful and multiply. But how does that command fit in a world with orphans who need a home?

God calls pastors to lead their churches by serving, not dominating, and he calls congregations to follow with humble teachability.

Alcohol consumption is permissible and can be a blessing, but it is also fraught with dangers.

God is working a weight of glory through our hardships, even the ones that seem most trivial.

For Christians, to embrace the definite atonement is to embrace that Christ set his love on them particularly, specially, and certainly.

The forbidden tree was neither an arbitrary test of obedience nor a greedy restriction by a stingy God. It was an insurance policy to secure supreme pleasure.

Although Lewis held several defective doctrines, Pastor John gives six reasons why he remains so helpful to Christians worldwide.

A good imagination transforms the normal into the fantastic. A great imagination sees normal things for the wonders they really are.

God’s pursuit of his own glory is the best possible news for all who seek him because “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

Walking by the Spirit can seem vague and hard to live out. Pastor John gives believers practical steps to walk and live by the Spirit.

No other motive provides a better foundation for missions than God’s own zeal to be glorified by blood-bought people from every tribe and tongue.

Christians do not celebrate what dishonors Christ. Pastor John gives five reasons why he would not attend a so-called same-sex wedding.

However mundane dirty diapers and yet another meal may seem, Jesus assures busy moms, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.”

Because Christ justifies believers, not their own law-keeping, do Christians still need to keep the commandments?

Christ should radiate in and through every rap song, but the gospel need not be explicitly presented every time. Pastor John describes Christ-exalting rap.

Pastor John describes marks of a healthy church and the combination of factors that may suggest it’s time to leave.

By his blood, Jesus purchased a unified bride in which the saints lay their souls bare and pray for one another.

How should Christians care for their bodies, which the Bible calls temples of God, without idolizing them or investing too much in outer beauty?

We can know Scripture, and we can know the Scripture. Take the time to read and analyze, but leave plenty of time to experience it as well.

How should believers pursue affections for Jesus in a broken world where those affections seem to rise and fall constantly?

Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament law for his people. But does that mean God no longer expects us to tithe?

Ninety percent of our daily decisions have no guiding list. But a mind renewed by God through his word and Spirit can know the delightful taste of God’s will.

The mark of Jesus's sheep is that they hear and believe the saving word of the gospel preached to them.

Pastor John gives a taste of the upcoming Desiring God National Conference, centered around C.S. Lewis.

Pastor John unpacks the story of the rich man and Lazarus to show the great chasm fixed between believers and unbelievers after death.

The Lord can and will show mercy to sinners who repent in the eleventh hour. Yet, spiritual corpses who love their sin cannot raise themselves from the dead.

Believers walk day by day as servants of others because their Savior is alive, their Father is King, the Spirit is present, and their reward is coming.

There are rich biblical grounds for saying, "Yes, believers do need role models in Christ." God has given us one another to imitate.

Marriage — and dating on that trajectory — cannot be the beautiful union God designed it to be if he himself is not in the picture.

There is a time for everything. When confronted by our sin, sorrow is the appropriate reaction — the one that can lead to true repentance.

If you want to motivate your church, don’t start with programs and activities. Start with a vision of God’s glory.

Bitterness flows from a heart that feels the pain of injustice. Forgiveness flows from a heart overcome by trust in God’s justice.

Marriage only lasts a lifetime. The relationships Christians build with one another last for eternity.

Psalm 73 declares that God’s people desire nothing on earth besides God. Why then was it “not good” that Adam was alone with God?

If you feel any measure of fear of judgment, or horror for your sin, turn to Jesus and repent — it’s not too late.

God still speaks today through his living, active word. All other revelation must be tested against Scripture (and hopefully alongside wise believers).

Christians are like farmers who, in reading God’s word, tend their gardens day by day, even when the fruit is not yet visible.

Marriage is a lifelong, God-wrought covenant. God did not create it to break — even when one partner goes back on their vows by viewing pornography.

Pastor John explains how complaining not only diminishes the light of God’s power and goodness, but also the light of his reward for his children.

Complaining snuffs out the light that believers hold — the light of God’s goodness, his power, and his wisdom in the midst of a dark world.

Some psalms relate to specific events in the life of David or Israel, so how should Christians take the promises in those psalms?

Pastor John identifies some of the reasons why evangelicals go to the Catholic Church, along with some of the issues with Catholic teaching.

Pastor John discusses the similarities and differences between the Holocaust and abortion, ending with this certainty: God will settle every account.

Gossip springs up from a proud and negative heart that hides beneath a veneer of concern and love.

Pastor John shares the story of his testimony. He can’t remember it, yet it is still amazing.

The word “legalism” is not found in the Bible. So what do people mean when they contrast legalism with the gospel?

God equips women to minister mightily in this world. Pastor John clarifies 1 Timothy 2 and calls women to endless possibilities.

Pastor John examines how God can both remember and forget sins according to what will work the most for our good.

It is difficult, even strange, to turn workplace conversations from football and fashion to the gospel. How then should believers approach evangelism at work?

Sin defaces the image of God, but it doesn’t destroy it. Pastor John explains what it means to be made in the image of God in this age of redemption.